Subtitles on Youview

[Jeceris]

I've been using Youview with my Panasonic TV for years and have always had subtitles on live TV and all apps by clicking the bottom right button on my remote. Recently I renewed my package and was advised to upgrade to the TV Pro Box. Although the box works fine to view live TV and the apps I have contracted for, I find I cannot get subtitles on any app.  The 3 bar button works for live TV but not for any app. I was told by an agent that I have to select subtitles separately for each app, which seems a major backward step. It also seems like a different process for iPlayer, itvX , Channel4 and Now TV respectively. Can anybody throw any light on this?

Thank you

[Midnight_Voice]

@Jeceris 

I presume you have followed:-
https://www.bt.com/help/tv/turning-on-subtitles-on-your-bt-tv-box#:~:text=You%20can%20easily%20turn%....

There are no subtitles on the Now app (boo!) but all the other apps should have them for programmes that actually possess subtitles.

Apps on the YouView box should obey the central setting shown in the link above, which is itself toggled by the SUB button on the older remotes, or within the three dots setting on the Pro remote (overloading buttons by giving them multiple functions is never a good idea, but even the older DEL/SUB button suffered from this).

But some apps may go their own way, especially the ones from the big beasts of the industry, like Netflix.

I just checked and saw subtitles working in the BBC iPlayer, on the footy programme that is on at the moment though. And on Channel 4, my YouView remote works them on the catchup programme about Boris Johnson.

But this is a DTR-T2110, with a full BT remote.

Do these work for you? Can you name another app/programme that doesn’t work for you that I can try?

[Jeceris]

Thank you MV for your response. I am using a TV Pro Youview box with the supplied remote. The 3 bar icon only operates for programmes I am watching live vis the EPG. In all apps it has no effect.

Here's a summary of what happens in the apps I use, which may help others as well as providing a clue to my issue.

• iPlayer - the down arrow brings up a subtitles on/off button at the bottom left of the screen which works.
• ITVX - the down arrow brings up a (very small) yellow underscored speech bubble similar to iPlayer, which can be set to subtitles on or off, but which does not work during ad breaks, so you have to wait for the programme to start before using it.
• Channel 4 - the right arrow takes you to a small S which switches subtitles on or off. Again. not during ads.
• NOW TV - cannot find any way to use subtitles.

All in all I find this whole business frustrating, non-intuitive and confusing, and wish I had not been persuaded to move to the new box when I had a perfectly easy to use set up in which a single touch of the SUB button worked for everything.

I don 't know if any of this helps but I would appreciate any further advice it may suggest.

Thank you

[Jeceris]

Hello again. I should have added that Netflix has on/off subtitles accessed by a complicated sequence of down/left arrows which bears no resemblance to any of the other apps.

[Midnight_Voice]

@Jeceris 

The Now app on YouView boxes does not have subtitles. (Though if you log on to the Now app on any other device which supports it - TV, iPad, laptop, phone, etc. - using your EE TV credentials, you will get them on all Now content that actually has them (Dark Winds doesn’t, but most everything else does)).

With the other apps, I recognise the steps needed, as they are the ones I have to use when running those apps on my TV, Roku Express, Firestick, and so on. so it looks like these apps on the Pro box might not be the YouView-used versions found on earlier boxes, where SUB does the job.

Or something like that. I don’t have a Pro box to try, so this needs to be confirmed or otherwise by someone who does, trying the apps you list.

[Jeceris]

Thanks for confirming my observations. Seems like we're both stuck with this tortuous process. This doesn't seem like progress to me.

[Lսkе · Accepted solution]

I have a BT Pro BOX and the older youview BT/Humax remotes.

The older Humax manufactured Youview boxes' remotes' Del(ete)/SUB buttons do enable easy toggling of subtitles on Sagemcom's  BT Pro Box for at least iPlayer, ITVX, My5, prime video, UKTV play and Channel 4's catch up.

[Midnight_Voice]

@Jeceris @Lսkе 

No, I only get the tortuous process when using these apps on non-YouView platforms, and I get the easy process you remember when using these apps on a pre-Pro YouView box.

@Lսkе, your observation is interesting, because it suggests it’s something to do with the Pro remote, rather than the Pro box or the apps on it. Can you try these steps again with the Pro remote, see if that chimes in with what @Jeceris reports? (Or maybe you have?)

Then we can start to see if this is a universal thing, or a local problem with @Jeceris‘ box, maybe clearable with a reboot?

[Jeceris]

Hello again. After reading the latest comments I had an idea.

Went back to the old remote alongside the new Pro box, and the Delete/Sub button works as an on/off for all apps, except for Discovery+ which requires navigating to a speech bubble, and NOW which still has no subtitles option. They all work slightly differently. e.g. on ITVX and Channel 4 it sjust turn the text on and off without any further selection, whereas iPlayer and Netflix require selecting either on or off. But it all works without the tortuous process referred to earlier.

Not sure whether there is any advantage to the new remote but if so I have yet to find it.

Thanks for all the help.

[Jeceris]

Just realised that @Luke  had mentioned that this combo worked in an earlier post so thanks to him, and to Midnight Voice for his responses